'I have to be taller': the unregulated world of India's limb-lengthening industry

Enviado por sector07g
el Lun, 09/05/2016 - 06:06

However, prospective patients appear undaunted, including those from abroad. India’s reputation for cheap and well-trained doctors attracts people from around the world, in a medical tourism industry worth an estimated $3bn. Cosmetic surgeries make up a large slice of that figure, drawing increasing numbers of people from countries in Europe, America and elsewhere where procedures can cost four or five times the price in India.

Dr Sarin, who started offering the surgery five years ago has treated 300 patients already, and only a third of them are from India. “It is a growing trend in India,” he says. “I get around 20 calls a day, with people telling me ‘I want to be tall, I have to be taller.’”

One man who had surgery in 2015 says he met at least 20 doctors before deciding to go ahead with the procedure. “Many of the doctors I approached had only done it once or twice before, and one had never ever done it before. I searched for around one year before I found the right person to do it.”

However, prospective patients appear undaunted, including those from abroad. India’s reputation for cheap and well-trained doctors attracts people from around the world, in a medical tourism industry worth an estimated $3bn. Cosmetic surgeries make up a large slice of that figure, drawing increasing numbers of people from countries in Europe, America and elsewhere where procedures can cost four or five times the price in India.

Dr Sarin, who started offering the surgery five years ago has treated 300 patients already, and only a third of them are from India. “It is a growing trend in India,” he says. “I get around 20 calls a day, with people telling me ‘I want to be tall, I have to be taller.’”

One man who had surgery in 2015 says he met at least 20 doctors before deciding to go ahead with the procedure. “Many of the doctors I approached had only done it once or twice before, and one had never ever done it before. I searched for around one year before I found the right person to do it.”

However, prospective patients appear undaunted, including those from abroad. India’s reputation for cheap and well-trained doctors attracts people from around the world, in a medical tourism industry worth an estimated $3bn. Cosmetic surgeries make up a large slice of that figure, drawing increasing numbers of people from countries in Europe, America and elsewhere where procedures can cost four or five times the price in India.

Dr Sarin, who started offering the surgery five years ago has treated 300 patients already, and only a third of them are from India. “It is a growing trend in India,” he says. “I get around 20 calls a day, with people telling me ‘I want to be tall, I have to be taller.’”

One man who had surgery in 2015 says he met at least 20 doctors before deciding to go ahead with the procedure. “Many of the doctors I approached had only done it once or twice before, and one had never ever done it before. I searched for around one year before I found the right person to do it.”